Theme of Sicily

The Theme of Sicily was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed from 687 to 902, with Syracuse serving as its capital. Sicily had been reconquered from the Ostrogoths from 535 to 536, and it was governed by a praetor, while its army was commanded by a dux. Between 687 and 695, the island was made into a theme governed by a strategos, and it was based around the city of Syracuse. In 826, the Muslims began to conquer the island, and, after the fall of Syracuse in 878 and the conquest of Taormina in 902, the strategos moved to Rhegion in Calabria. While some Byzantine strongholds near Messina held out until 965 and the title Stategos of Sicily existed until the mid-10th century, it was later replaced by the title Strategos of Calabria.